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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921592">Niederknien</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unihuppias/pseuds/Unihuppias'>Unihuppias</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Violence, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, eruri - Freeform, royal au</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:07:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,122</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unihuppias/pseuds/Unihuppias</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A prince and his guard — and the whole kingdom against them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi Ackerman &amp; Erwin Smith, Levi Ackerman/Erwin Smith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Niederknien</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first multichapter fic for this pairing. I don't know yet how many chapters there will be, but I'd suppose that quite many — I hope that you'll be patient with me and the story, and I'll appreciate all kinds of feeback!</p><p>Note that the story may contain even heavily triggering topics. However, I don't want to spoil these things at the beginning of every single chapter, so I'll be adding trigger warnings to the end notes.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What a fine, young man you’ve become, Prince Erwin,” a familiar voice can be heard from behind him. Erwin turns his head around, a friendly and welcoming smile spreading on his lips as he sees his uncle Karl standing right there.</p><p>“Did you come to watch me train?” Erwin chuckles and puts the sword back into its leather scabbard. There is a proud look on Karl’s face as he approaches the blonde and wraps his hands around Erwin’s shoulders, shaking the man in his hands like he'd still be the same small boy he had seen years ago.</p><p>“Of course. It’s always a joy to watch you improve,” Karl hums in response. His hand, large with scarred skin, drops down from Erwin’s broad shoulder as he looks up to the sky to enjoy the beautiful sight of sunbeams pushing their way through the cotton-like clouds.</p><p>“Your father may not be the best fighter on the fields of battle, but I can see that you’re different,” his uncle smirks. “I bet you’re popular among the ladies, hmm?”</p><p>Erwin crosses his arms and lightly smiles at that. “I suppose so.”</p><p>Not that he cares about the popularity, though. Like his father, Erwin himself also admires intelligence and seeks answers to everything at all times. Almost all of his free time he spends either studying or training, not leaving him much time to worry about the possible future spouses. He enjoys his time alone, but can also feel the pressure everyone is putting on him to start a family as soon as possible — he is the only son of the current king, after all.</p><p>“You’re always in that guard’s company. No wonder you don’t have a partner yet, even with those looks,” Karl chuckles. He cocks his brow and nods on the side, his gesture clear enough to make Erwin turn his head. A man with a small figure, raven black hair and piercing eyes that no one could forget, sits there and patiently waits for Erwin’s training to end.</p><p>“Ah. Levi?” he hums. “He’s my most trusted companion.”</p><p>“So I’ve heard,” a sigh falls from the older one’s lips as he shakes his head a little.</p><p>“It was already surprising enough for me that your father hired an underground brat like him, but that you trust him so much… I suppose I’ll just have to believe that he has some skill,” he wonders. Erwin furrows his brows a bit, a thoughtful hum falling from his lips. </p><p>“He does,” the blonde agrees. “Though I don’t appreciate you calling him that.”</p><p>“Oh— You know I don’t mean it in a bad way,” Karl laughs it off and gives a few pats to his nephew’s broad shoulders. Despite the friendly gesture, Erwin stays as serious as ever. The discomfort caused by this seems to be enough for the other one.</p><p>“Well… I’ll start heading back. We have to fight a little tomorrow, okay? It’ll be your training of the day,” Karl says as his hand drops from Erwin’s shoulders. The prince simply nods in response and watches the other one walk away all the way until his back disappears from sight.</p><p>Only then he turns his gaze back to the guard.</p><p>“Levi,” he calls the other one. Without any further thinking the shorter one jumps off the fence he had been sitting on and walks to Erwin, seemingly curious about what the two had talked about — perhaps he had seen how Erwin had been staring at him with his uncle while chatting — but apparently decides not to ask about it.</p><p>“Are you done?” Levi asks, blunt and expressionless like always.</p><p>“Yes,” the prince nods in response. “I thought we should start heading back as well.”</p><p>The guard nods and offers a dark blue cloak for Erwin. He swings the cloth on his shoulders and runs his fingers through his slightly sweaty hair, and before he can even ask for one, Levi is already offering him a piece of fabric.</p><p>“You’re always ahead of me,” the prince chuckles and nods as a thank you at him.</p><p>“I don’t want to walk with you if you’re that sweaty,” Levi says. His words cause a fond chuckle to fall from Erwin’s lips as he pats the fabric against the skin on his face. He knows well how much Levi hates dirt of any kind, even sweat and mud, anything that makes him feel unhygienic in the slightest way possible.</p><p>“How rude,” he hums, clearly amused, and neatly folds the piece of fabric into his pocket. Perhaps many would not let their underlings talk to themselves in such a way, but Erwin finds the other one to be more than just a servant or a guard. A friend, even. He knows that due to his powerful position over Levi the other one probably cannot view him in the same way, and he doesn’t really try to force the other one into a friendship either — he can only try to give Levi more freedom around him, to try and make it clear that even with a dirty mouth like his Erwin will accept him nonetheless and still trust him the most out of all the others.</p><p>He then gestures for the other one to follow as he starts to walk towards the castle. The shorter one walks right behind him, but Erwin makes sure to slow down enough for Levi to reach the same pace so that the two can walk side by side together. The refreshing wind of a late summer blows past them and makes their strays of hair dance along its gentle gust while they continue walking in that perfectly comfortable silence.</p><p>“Should we continue the book tonight?” Erwin decides to break it anyway. They had been reading a book together lately — it tells a tale of a poor boy and his adventures all around the globe, and sharing the story with Levi has been quite a pleasant experience. The two would sit inside the prince’s room until late night hours, read the book in turns to each other and drink whatever tea flavors the guard would just come up with.</p><p>Levi stays quiet for a second, but soon nods in response. “I guess we could.”</p><p>Erwin offers a friendly smile for the other one once the two step inside the castle. Long hallways with fresh and pure colors and large painted portraits of deceased relatives of the prince surround them as they stay still for a second.</p><p>“I will be waiting in my room, then?” Erwin suggests. The guard nods his head at that, crosses his arms and lightly taps his side with his slender finger. He seems to be thinking about something.</p><p>“What flavor do you want tonight?” Levi asks.</p><p>“Anything goes,” the prince hums in response. “Bring your favorite.”</p><p>The shorter one simply nods at that before turning away. Though Levi never shares too many thoughts or words, Erwin has grown close enough to him to be able to read Levi’s mood despite that usual, always even angry-looking face. He knows that the guard enjoys reading books as well, finds it pleasant to drink tea in peace and to just share thoughts about the beautifully written words on the worn pages of any book that could be found from the prince’s large bookshelf. </p><p>Soon Levi cannot be seen anymore, and only then the blonde turns away with a warm smile lingering on his peachy lips. He straightens up the collar of his shirt a little and runs his thick fingers through his hair, only to notice that it still feels slightly damp as a result of the earlier training. A sigh leaves Erwin’s mouth as he starts walking towards his room and quietly, inside his head, plans to take a shower before Levi arrives.</p><p>But a sudden sting on his side makes the prince let out a painful groan. Erwin turns around and holds his hurting side as he watches after the dark-hooded person running away along the otherwise empty hallway, and only then does he realize to look down to his hand and shirt now fully covered in blood.</p><p>It had all been so sudden and fast that he finds himself just standing there, completely still and confused — and soon even afraid, right after he remembers his father. Erwin grunts and immediately starts running in the other direction, knowing that his father’s room would be in there, but the wound on his side is making it difficult to move normally.</p><p>He knows his father isn’t the type to know much about fighting or weapons. He is a man of peace and negotiating, not blood and wars, and that exactly is the reason behind Erwin’s fear as he continues jogging along the hallway with pained wrinkles on his face. Though the king isn’t naive, he isn’t too suspecting either, and Erwin can only hope that he is somehow prepared for attacks like these — yet somehow he has this weird, strong feeling inside his gut. </p><p>And it’s not telling him any good news.</p><p>Once he finds the right door, Erwin just rushes his way inside. Though he’s always the type to inform about his appearance first, to politely knock on the door and wait for a permission to come inside, such thoughts won’t even cross his mind right now.</p><p>“Father?” he asks inside the quiet room.</p><p>There are several red pearls dripping down to the ground, ones that color the floor into a sight of despair and pain as the blood stains everything it reaches. The knife that had sunk into his father’s chest is standing proudly, its once so bright and clean blade now glistering with red.</p><p>His breath hitches once Erwin approaches the body, his bright blue eyes growing wide at the closer look on his father’s dead expression. His eyes are still open, gaze so empty and grey that it’s almost impossible to recognize his dear father from the now soulless figure.</p><p>Erwin kneels down and lowers his hand to rest on top of his father’s. Though he can feel the pain wash through him, not a single tear forms into the corners of his eyes. He would love to cry out and throw up the horrified emotions out of insides, yet he cannot bring himself to do it.</p><p>Instead he just watches. Looks at his now gone father, gently strokes the brown hairs away from his face. His own hands, still stained in blood from his own wound, leave red marks on his skin once Erwin reaches out to close the eyelids and whispers out a goodbye.</p><p>Suddenly a horrified scream replaces the silence of the room.</p><p>Erwin turns his head, watches the familiar servant of his family standing near the exit. She’s covering her mouth, legs shaking while clear horror is taking over her face.</p><p>“Lena! We must flee to safety immediately,” Erwin starts, but her next words make the prince’s chest fill with a heavy feeling.</p><p>“Monster—”</p><p>He looks at the servant, eyes fully wide as he tries to understand the meaning behind the word regarding the situation. He has an idea, yet he doesn’t quite want to believe it. Erwin's mouth gapes, but once he tries to stand up, the woman screams again. Even louder this time.</p><p>“Stay back!” she yells, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Stay away from me, murderer!”</p><p>It almost feels like he is in a play of some sort. Like he would soon find himself from the back of the theatre, how everyone would just applaud to such perfectly handled dramatic acting and shower him in praises later.</p><p>But he knows that the blood on his hands is very real. That the king beside him is truly gone, and how the servant — one that had been with his family ever since he was born — thinks that he would actually be a person to sink down a blade into his beloved father’s chest to kill him.</p><p>“Lena, I’m hurt,” Erwin tries to explain. “This is my own blood on my hands, I’m…”</p><p>Finally he can hear the heavy footsteps of soldiers approaching. Lena takes a couple of steps back while shaking her head at him, clearly still not ready to process any new information about the situation other than the fact that she had found Erwin like this. </p><p>Looking like a murderer.</p><p>“Here!” she yells into the hallway. “Please, hurry, please—”</p><p>And though Erwin has this strong, negative hunch about the situation, he cannot do anything about it. The blonde sits there and watches the servant with a clueless gaze. He can only hope that the soldiers will believe him, that the people inside the castle will give him a chance to explain.</p><p>“Is the king okay? I heard the prince was attacked before!” one of the soldiers yells as he rushes in, but Erwin can tell by the looks of his face what he’s thinking about based on the scene he is currently being served with. The soldier grabs his spear tighter, takes a step back and points the weapon towards the prince with shaky hands.</p><p>“Your Royal Highness,” the soldier breathes out. “What on Earth have you done?”</p><p>Erwin isn’t stupid. He knows far too well what kind of a situation he is in, how it all seems to others even if he knows the truth. He also knows what happens to people who betray the royal blood. </p><p>Their heads get chopped off. It surely isn’t too difficult to guess.</p><p>And even if Erwin himself is the rightful heir to inherit the throne, it would still be a crime for him as well to murder the king. Perhaps the people think of it as a motive of some sort. And though Erwin knows that the people inside the room are waiting for an answer, an explanation, he stays quiet and thinks. Wonders who it might be behind all of this.</p><p>A few more soldiers follow soon after, all gasping out at the brutal sight. Though they hesitate at first, soon all of them raise their spears to point at Erwin. One of them is shaking a lot more than the others, gasping for air in pure panic. Erwin knows how cherished his father had been inside the castle, how everyone in there admired him, how they had all been ready to throw their lives away for the sake of the king they so fully believed in. And now the savior of them all is gone.</p><p>“Why?” the soldier sobs out, but is given no answer.</p><p>He knows it will be almost impossible to talk himself out of this, but he wants to believe that he can do it nonetheless. He had always been good at negotiating, that being something that he’s even well known for.</p><p>He wants to—</p><p>But before anyone can react, a head falls to the ground. Erwin just stares at it, watches the blood pulp out to shape a pond of blood in front of him. The soldier’s eyes look back at him, the dead expression of a young man almost not awakening any emotions inside him anymore. It’s all too much, as if he’s too full to feel more shock than he already does.</p><p>“Your Highness!” </p><p>Erwin’s gaze slowly moves up and is met with Levi’s own. The guard is breathing hard, holding a sword in his hands. It’s stained in blood, and only then does the prince notice that the other soldiers have already lost their heads as well. Lena has collapsed on the ground, crying in despair as she watches the two. She has no weapon to fight with and it appears that she can’t even stand on her own anymore, so Levi has left her be.</p><p>“We must leave,” Levi announces. He takes a step closer and kneels before Erwin, only then noticing the bleeding wound on his side.</p><p>“Tsk,” he hisses. “You’re hurt. Can you walk?”</p><p>“Levi,” Erwin says in a low tone. “Do you realize what you have done to my men?”</p><p>“Do you realize what they think you have done?” he asks in return.</p><p>Erwin’s gaze slowly moves back to his father. He knows, and his lasting silence is enough to tell Levi the answer he’s waiting for. The other one grabs him by the shoulders and the blonde is forced to look directly into the guard’s dark eyes now.</p><p>“You will either be hanged in front of everyone or get your head cut off,” he says.</p><p>Despite the harsh words, no reaction at all can be seen on Erwin’s face. He knows these facts already, yet the idealist inside him is telling him that he can somehow turn the tables around. That he can survive and make everyone believe him.</p><p>“Or you can flee with me,” Levi then continues. “Now, which one will it be?”</p><p>“We should try to negotiate—” Erwin starts, but soon feels a hard slap against his cheek. His eyes grow wide as he lifts his hand up to his sore skin and stares at Levi’s eyes filled with pure anger and disappointment.</p><p>“I have not spent these years serving you to see you experience such a pathetic death,” Levi hisses at him. He grabs the prince by his arms and helps him stand up, brows furrowing in deep thought. They would need a plan for escaping.</p><p>He looks down at Erwin’s wound. Despite the bleeding and pain, the prince stands before the other one like nothing had ever happened. Nonetheless, Levi can see how pale his face is. He could not run for too long.</p><p>“The horses,” Levi says and grabs the other one’s hand. With his free hand he draws out the sword again — Erwin is not in shape to fight, not with everything he’s currently processing inside his head and the damned stabbing wound on his side — and starts to pull the royal one out of the room with him.</p><p>Once they pass Lena, Erwin cannot help but look into her frightened eyes. She is looking at the pair with fear in her gaze, as if they would be actual monsters walking around, and holds back from making any noises to avoid her head getting cut off as well. Something about her fearful gaze makes it difficult for Erwin to breathe, knowing that the people he had always found the closest to him now think of him as someone completely else.</p><p>“Levi,” Erwin mutters out. “Why do you still help me?”</p><p>“Save your energy. We can chat later,” Levi answers in a dark tone. He pulls the prince’s hand a little harder in order to make the two move faster, and though Erwin cannot see his face, he knows how focused the shorter male is while keeping a look-out on their route.</p><p>“If anyone is to attack us, continue to reach the horses while I stay back to fight,” Levi tells the prince. Erwin can only hear the deadly serious tone in his voice and is able to imagine the expression the other one currently wears. The burning fire in the eyes of a man who doesn’t fear death when it comes to the prince’s safety.</p><p>Suddenly he’s pulled to the side by the Ackerman to hide behind a pole. He can hear footsteps, heavy and fast ones, approaching. The heavy armor those soldiers wear are making a lot of noise, always giving them a good warning of their current location.</p><p>“Prince Erwin has murdered the king! For the safety of our kingdom, we must find him no matter what! Search from everywhere!” the orders echo on the long hallways as the soldiers run right past them. Erwin stares after them, tries to get a hold of himself, but Levi is fast to grab his hand again and lead him forward. They don’t have time to waste.</p><p>But of course one of the soldiers looks behind him. There’s a red trail on the ground following them, all that dripping from Erwin’s side and hands, a mix of his own and his father’s blood. Levi groans and grabs the handle of his sword as he steadies himself for the upcoming fight once the soldiers start turning around, one by one, and see the prince behind Levi.</p><p>“Run,” Levi tells him in a low tone.</p><p>“Levi,” he speaks softly. The approaching, loud orders to catch the prince are almost like just distant background noises to him at this point.</p><p>“Survive. I’ll be waiting for you.”</p><p>“I can’t promise you that. Just flee without me for now,” the guard grunts back. Levi is getting impatient, gesturing for the prince to already run once the soldiers start running towards the duo, but they both know how stubborn he can be.</p><p>“It’s an order. Return to me alive,” Erwin says, but only gets a bratty huff in response. Levi stays quiet, his grip tightening around the hilt of the sword. And for a second Erwin is almost sure that he sees actual fire in the other one’s eyes, the burning desire to kill everyone around them in order to obey the prince’s one and only command.</p><p>“I will, then.”</p><p>And only then Erwin finally turns around and runs, or at least tries to, and prays from the bottom of his heart that Levi can keep his promise. He knows that it may not be possible, yet he wants to trust the other one — wants to believe in him, and to be honest, he actually does. Despite his small figure, Levi is almost like a machine when it comes to killing. The worst mistake an enemy could do is to underestimate him for his physical appearance. It has happened before, and he’s sure that it will happen again.</p><p>Once outside, Erwin stays behind a corner for a good while and watches the soldiers run back and forth. It appears that they have heard about something happening inside, and so the yard is soon clear from people. He gets up again, breathing heavily as he holds his wound even tighter than before, his face just going paler moment after another as he approaches the horses and tries his best not to pass out right there.</p><p>“Holsteiner,” Erwin whispers to one of the horses. It’s a fine horse with dark brown hair and a lot of muscle, a perfect match for someone as large as the prince himself. Holsteiner obeys well and has grown fond of him, and so it stays perfectly still as Erwin struggles his way to sit on its back. A painful sob leaves his mouth, and though he very well knows that he now has the perfect chance to escape, he doesn’t. </p><p>He had promised to wait for Levi, after all.</p><p>But there it is again — that same feeling inside his gut as before when he had been running towards his father’s room. The one that tells him that something is wrong, that Levi is hurt, that he won’t be seeing the other male appear from anywhere anymore. </p><p>But just like before, like always, he wants to believe. Erwin hides his face into the long hairs of the horse, breathes hard against them and squeezes his thighs in pain. He isn’t sure if he could even ride the horse anymore in his state without falling off and dying a lonely, pathetic death in some cold and wet ditch. </p><p>And he hears fast footsteps approaching again. Though they’re not as heavy as the ones he had heard earlier on the hallway, they’re just as fast if not even faster. Erwin furrows his brows and squeezes his eyes shut, tries to find any kind of remaining strength to fight back against the approaching soldier, but the blur inside his head is making it impossible.</p><p>“Hold on tight,” Levi says as he smoothly jumps on the horse’s back and grabs its reins from under Erwin’s arms. The prince’s eyes open wide, yet he doesn’t have much more energy left to keep them open anymore as the pain starts taking over him. His fingers take a weak hold from Holsteiner’s hairs, but he can feel Levi’s figure supporting him to prevent him from falling once the horse starts to run forward.</p><p>The radical movements make Erwin grimace in pain, but he gives no other visible signs of being hurt — yet despite trying to hide it and not to make a scene about it, he also understands that Levi knows. Nonetheless, the idealist living inside the prince’s head starts to fade away as dark thoughts start filling his mind instead.</p><p>“Where are we heading to?” Erwin asks and leans back against the smaller figure behind him.</p><p>“I have a friend in some distance,” Levi shortly answers. “We’ll treat your wound in there. Just hang on until that.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, comments are greatly appreciated. Let me know what you liked about it, what I could improve with, anything. Be it positive or negative, all feedback will be welcomed. &lt;3</p><p>I made a new tumblr to not fill my main one with AOT stuff, so you'll find me in there from @erwins-boot tag! I'll be posting updates of upcoming chapters in there.</p><p>TRIGGER WARNINGS: Blood, violence, death</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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